Brian McLaren
Quotes * "How do 'I' know the Bible is always right? And if 'I' am sophisticated enough to realize that I know nothing of the Bible without my own involvement via interpretation, Iâ€™ll also ask how I know which school, method, or technique of biblical interpretation is right. What makes a 'good' interpretation good? And if an appeal is made to a written standard (book, doctrinal statement, etc.) or to common sense or to ;scholarly principles of interpretation,; the same pesky 'I' who liberated us from the authority of the church will ask, 'Who sets the standard? Whose common sense? Which scholars and why? Donâ€™t all these appeals to authorities and principles outside the Bible actually undermine the claim of ultimate biblical authority? Arenâ€™t they just the new pope?' " â€”A Generous Orthodoxy * "I believe God works in all things for the good of all who love God and follow God's call." â€”ANewKindOfChristian.com * "I can imagine some impassioned critic of this book concluding a review with a statement something like this: 'It's bad enough that McLaren has undermined conventional understandings of hell, but in its place what has he offered? No clear alternative. One cannot even tell for sure, after a careful reading of this book, whether McLaren is an inclusivist, conditionalist, or universalist. All one can say is that he is clearly not an orthodox exclusivist.' In response, I might offer, as I have often suggested elsewhere, that clarity is good, but sometimes intrigue may be even more precious; clarity tends to put an end to further thinking, whereas intrigue makes one think more intensely, broadly, and deeply. Jesus' teaching on the kingdom of God is a case in point; his parables don't score too well on clarity, but they excel in intrigue." -Introduction to The Last Word and The Word After That http://www.opensourcetheology.net/node/626 * "I don't believe making disciples must equal making adherents to the Christian religion. It may be advisable in many (not all!) circumstances to help people become followers of Jesus and remain within their Buddhist, Hindu, or Jewish contexts." â€”A Generous Orthodoxy http://www.anewkindofchristian.com/archives/000394.html http://www.biblicalrecorder.org/content/news/2005/4_15_2005/ne150405mclaren.shtml Books * The Last Word and the Word After That (Jossey-Bass, 2005) * A Generous Orthodoxy: Why I Am a Missional, Evangelical, Post/Protestant, Liberal/Conservative, Mystical/Poetic, Biblical, Charismatic/Contemplative, Fundamentalist/Calvinist, Anabaptist/Anglican, Methodist, Catholic, Green, Incarnational, Depressed-yet-Hopeful, Emergent, Unfinished CHRISTIAN (Zondervan, 2004) * Church in Emerging Culture; Five Perspectives, edited by Frederica Matthewes-Green (Zondervan, 2003) * Adventures in Missing the Point: How the Culture Controlled Church Neutered the Gospel, with Tony Campolo (Zondervan, 2003) * A Is for Abductive (Zondervan, 2003) * The Story We Find Ourselves In: Further Adventures of a New Kind of Christian (Jossey-Bass, 2003) * The Church on the Other Side (Zondervan, 2003) * More Ready Than You Realize (Zondervan, 2002) * A New Kind of Christian: A Tale of Two Friends on a Spiritual Journey (Jossey-Bass, 2001) * Finding Faith : A Self-Discovery Guide for Your Spiritual Quest (Zondervan, 2000) See also * Emergent church * Pluralism External links * Christianbook.com Interview with Brian McLaren Online works * Conversations About Hell Favorable / sympathetic * Review of The Last Word and the Word After That, by Andrew Perriman Multimedia * Larry King Live Interview with Brian McLaren: Video Highlights McLaren